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The Montreal Canadiens' leading scorer will play for Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss A League, the country’s elite circuit. Pacioretty (33 goals, 32 assists) will play for former NHL coach Kevin Constantine.

“(Constantine) called me to tell me their situation—that they haven’t made the playoffs in six years and that they’re not looking for someone who wants to come over on vacation,” Pacioretty told the Montreal Gazette. “I explained to him that I have intentions of helping them win and playing my heart out. I was happy to have that conversation with him.

“Maybe he was feeling me out, to see if I have what it takes to be a member of their team. I guess he liked what he heard. I told him the truth: that I want to go over there and play and work on my game and help them win.”

Pacioretty, 23, signed a six-year extension worth an average of $4.5 million annually earlier this offseason. He becomes one of several elite NHL players to join the Swiss league. Joe Thornton, Rick Nash, Jason Spezza, Logan Couture and Tyler Seguin have already agreed on contracts.

The Philadelphia Flyers winger (28 goals, 21 assists) will join his best friend, Chris Stewart, of the St. Louis Blues with Eispiraten Crimmitschau GmbH in Germany's top professional league

“Wayne and Chris both have been wanting to play together for a long time,” Eustace King, the agent for both players, told the South Jersey Courier-Post. “They played together in amateur hockey and they had the potential to play together in the World Championships a couple years back but Wayne was hurt playing for the Los Angeles Kings, so he couldn’t.”